Coke bottler workers vote to strike

Bottling and delivery workers at Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated's Mobile-area operation were set to go on strike after Teamsters flatly rejected a contract offer from the Charlotte, N.C., company.

Union members gathered this evening at the Teamsters hall on Broad Street and voted down the contract 176 to 15, said Jim Gookins, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 991, which represents about 275 of 300 Coke workers in southwest Alabama and southeast Mississippi.

"As of right now, we're going on strike," Gookins said after the vote.

He said the dispute centers on a proposal by the nation's second-largest Coke bottler to freeze contributions to the union-administered pension plan. Some workers are also unhappy about a proposal to increase employee contributions for health insurance, and believe that the contract's average wage increase of 3.25 percent a year for three years is not enough.

Usually during strikes, soft-drink bottlers buy products from elsewhere and make deliveries with managers and temporary employees. Work stoppages can cut supplies of less common Coke products, but typically don't lead to empty shelves.